Figgins sits one out

Chone Figgins was in an unfamiliar position at his locker on Sunday morning.

For only the second time this season — not since April 26 — he wasn’t getting emotionally prepared to start a game.

“I’ll be ready for whatever they need,” he said. “But I don’t like sitting. Mike [Scioscia] knows that.”

Scioscia also knows everybody can use a breather now and then, so Maicer Izturis was in Figgins’ familiar role, playing third base and leading off, giving the manager a chance to play all three of his talented middle infielders – Izturis, Erick Aybar and Howard Kendrick.

“He’s played a lot,” Scioscia said. “I don’t know how many games in a row [he’s played], but a day off can refresh him a little bit. He’s a gamer. It’s a good time to get him to re-charge a little.

“There’s nobody in that room who’s not resistant to a day off, but you need to mentally re-charge.”

Figgins’ streak of consecutive starts ended at 92. He’d last sat one out on April 26 against the Mariners, with Aybar taking the leadoff spot.

Before the season, Figgins said his goal was to “play all 162,” referencing iron man Cal Ripken Jr. Maybe he’ll settle for 160.

Izturis and Figgins are locker neighbors in the home clubhouse, with Bobby Abreu on the other side of Figgins. Izturis is the least talkative of the threesome, but he’s always smiling.

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2 Comments

Tell Figgins if he doesn’t want to sit he better start hitting again. Have you seen his batting average the last week? I’ll just say it makes Jeff Mathis look good. The Angels are better with Figgins playing but this offense is a mess right now. Time for the whole team to get going. This Texas series was one gigantic disaster. Horrible baseball. I want to know why Morales and Napoli were given the day off though. That wasn’t good.

I don’t grudge Figgy a day off. I would like to see him get some hits. But Figgy leads the league in runs scored and I wish he played today and got another day off. I continue to have confidence in Scioscia’s judgement and Figgy’s ability to play ball.

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